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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Mystery Women in Family Photo from Sumner County, Kansas

We have an amazing number of photos of our Peters family. This photo includes both my grandmother, Hazel Peters (1910-1975), who is third from the left, and my great grandmother, Myrtle Mae (Coppenbarger) Peters (1880-1970), who is to the right of her. The youngest girl, located on the far right, is my grandma Hazel's sister, Beulah (1923-2009), who got me interested in genealogy in 1998. We are dating the photo by Beulah's age guessing she is about 8 or 9 years old.

Peters' Family Photo Collection - Used with Permission

Although my dad's generation knew their Peters cousins, they do not recognize the other four women in this photograph. One of the older women has her arm around Beulah, so it appears they are close and possibly related. This photo could have been taken in Sumner County, where the Peters' family lived, or it could have been taken while visiting these other women. I hope someone is able to identify these "mystery women!"

The full names of the women we do know in this photograph:

Evelyn Peters (1906-1981) who married Kenneth W Scott (1904-1979) and Russell E Dudley (1908-1990), about 25 years old

Hazel Peters (1910-1975) who married Edward Stewart (1910-1972), about 21 years old

Leona Coppenbarger (1889-1994) who married Frank Hutchins (1883-1975), about 48 years old

Myrtle Coppenbarger (1880-1970) who married Emil Peters (1877-1955), about 54 years old

Beulah Peters (1923-2009) who married Gerald "Jug" Brewer (1920-1998), about 8 years old

As often happens when I blog, I realized something as I typed out this post. I assumed this was a "Peters" family photo. However, the two oldest known women in this photo are actually Coppenbargers! Could the unknown women be Coppenbarger relatives? If so, one possibility would be Myrtle and Leona's sister, Ella, and her three daughters. If so, the women and their ages would be: Ella (Coppenbarger) Waggoner (~58 years old), oldest and tallest unknown woman, Margaret Waggoner (~30 years old), Beatrice Waggoner (~20 years old), and Bertha Waggoner (~17 years old).

UPDATE: October 13, 2016

I shared the mystery photo with a Waggoner relative and she shared some photos of the Waggoner women I suspected might be in the photograph. Unfortunately, they do not look like the right women.

But, we have positively identified the woman on the far left! She is Marie (Peters) Bowker (1919-1990) who was a daughter of Myrtle (Coppenbarger) Peters and a sister of her three other daughters who are in the photograph: Evelyn, Hazel, and Beulah.

4 comments:

Blogging is so helpful in this regard - makes you really look closely at what you're blogging about. I was going to suggest looking for any and all cousins. Here's hoping you can confirm those other unknowns!

I agree with Elizabeth. Blogging really makes us think about what we're looking at and talking about. Here, I liked the way you were thinking out loud and realized the photo might be Coppenbarger, not Peters, family members. Let us know what happens!

Marian, I totally agree with you! I think that is one of the BEST things about blogging! It takes a lot of time and effort to sort through your research or your thoughts and write a post. And, in the process, you often discover something new!

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Why "The Enthusiastic Genealogist?"

My Grand Aunt Beulah, now deceased, got me interested in genealogy in 1998. As she shared names, stories, and research techniques with me, I fell in love with this 'hobby'. While my daughter was young, I didn't have a lot of time to pursue this passion. But she is a teenager now, and I am able to put more effort into uncovering my family's past.

Why "the enthusiastic genealogist"? I was at a genealogy library over the holidays and met two wonderful librarians. We were sharing stories about our research & our ancestors. And, of course, I was excited about my previous 'finds' & the 'finds' I was uncovering that particular day! A volunteer who had been sitting at the front desk came over to me and told me how much she appreciated my 'enthusiasm.' While trying to come up with a blog name, I thought it fit! I hope my enthusiasm for genealogy shines through in my blog!